Toeing the Line
by AutonomicRogue
Summary: When Natasha Romanoff is chosen to help head up a merger between SHIELD and Stark Industries, she doesn't exactly know what to expect. However, after growing closer to Steve Rogers, her partner throughout the merger, they both find themselves toeing the line between coworkers, friends, and something more.
1. Chapter 1

I probably have no business starting another work in progress, but here we are! Enjoy :)

* * *

"Romanoff, I need you in my office in ten minutes," a voice rang out over the phone speaker.

"A _please_ would go a long way, Nick," Natasha replied as she rolled her eyes.

"Romanoff," Fury warned. "It's important, we need to talk."

"I don't know if I can fit that into my schedule. I am a pretty busy woman." She quickly finished typing out the email that she was sending before beginning to shut down her computer.

"You know, a simple 'okay boss' would do," he huffed out.

Natasha hummed as she pretended to contemplate what Nick had said. "Yeah, not really my style."

"Just get up here, dammit," he demanded before the line clicked indicating that he'd hung up.

Natasha slid her laptop into her bag and grabbed the rest of her things, fully intending to leave straight from Nick's office to head home for the night after discussing whatever he felt like they needed to talk about. Natasha knew that she wasn't in trouble. She knew it was nothing she'd done. Nick pretended to be a hard-ass, but under his hard exterior, she knew that he had a soft spot for her. Not that he would ever admit it.

Flipping off the light and pulling her office door closed, Natasha wandered out among the cubicles, catching some of her coworkers giving her a fleeting glance as she passed by them. She stopped off in the kitchen to grab her lunchbox from the fridge, the conversations between the few employees chatting happily in there instantly stopping in favor of turning their attention to her. Natasha wasn't stupid, she knew what most people thought of her. She knew that they were constantly gossiping about her. Speculating on why Nick was so good to her. Why he trusted her with far more than most people in the building, and why he gave her more responsibility and reign over things that happened in the company than what would typically be allowed, even though she was an executive. She'd heard everything from the thought that she was actually Nick's long lost biological daughter, that she's having an affair him (she loves Nick, but definitely not like that), that she's got blackmail on him and holds it over his head to get what she wants, and finally, her personal favorite, that's she's the one who took Nick's eye (which would be completely badass but still not true) . Keeping her features schooled, she walked through the kitchen and over to the refrigerator, hearing the slight whispers from the group behind her back as she turned it to them to grab her lunchbox before quickly standing up and turning around to face them. Again, the conversation she'd heard immediately stopped and everyone's eyes were on her. Giving them an icy glare, she turned and left the room.

They could believe what they wanted to believe about her. They could think that she was screwing her boss. They could talk about how she was probably "an easy lay." She could even put up with the men in the office having disgustingly inappropriate conversations about her because at the end of the day, it didn't matter to her. No one in the office could deny that she was exceptional about her job. Anything that landed on her desk, no matter how arduous the task, how difficult the client, or how seemingly out of the realm of job description it was, Natasha completed it with flying colors. Much to the surprise and disappointment of her fellow coworkers.

That's not to say that she didn't have any friends at SHIELD. Nick aside, Natasha had friends. Clint Barton, for one, was one of the very few people that Natasha would consider her friends. Natasha and Clint had been best friends since high school. They went to college together, and Natasha was the one who had helped to get him a job at SHIELD after he was forced to retire from archery after sustaining an injury to his shoulder. It was through both Nick and Clint that she met Maria Hill who also worked at SHIELD. She oversaw most of the employees and handled all of their ridiculousness with a perfect mixture of grace and sass that made even Natasha slightly envious.

Natasha stepped out of the elevator onto the top floor of the building.

"Hi Natasha," Wanda's cheery voice rang out. Natasha smiled and dropped her things beside her desk. "He's waiting for you, so you're good to go in."

Wanda was the only other person at SHIELD that she felt like she was really friends with. The girl had begun working at SHIELD only a couple years earlier, snagging a job as Nick's assistant right out of college. It surprised even her when Natasha found herself making more conversation with Wanda. Maybe it was because she felt like she could relate to her. Wanda understood things that none of her other friends could about moving to a new country and struggling to find her footing, and in the years that Natasha had known Wanda, she'd taken on more of an older sister role. Natasha had never had a family, but she imagined if she did, she would feel an awful lot like she did with the friends she'd made at SHIELD.

Natasha hummed before pushing herself up on Wanda's desk, crossing her legs at the knee as she grabbed a stack of post-it notes to mess with. "He can keep waiting," she replied, offering Wanda a mischievous smile. "Are we still on to grab drinks tonight?"

"Absolutely! I just have to run home and change and then I'll be ready to go."

"Sounds good, that'll give me plenty of time to get ready and come pick you up." Natasha sighed and set down the post-its back on Wanda's desk before pushing herself off and smoothing down her skirt once more. "Alright, I'd better get in there, don't want Fury getting his panties all in a twist." Wanda giggled behind her hand and waved her off with a promise to text her once she was ready to be picked up for the night.

Natasha knocked once on the door before swinging it open and stepping into the room. "Alright Nick, I'm here, what do you want?" She asked teasingly, before her eyes fell on the dark-haired man sitting across from Nick. Natasha quickly back tracked, swiftly putting on an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry sir. Wanda said that you were ready for me, I'll just show myself out until you are." She turned toward the door about ready to pull it open when Nick's voice stopped her.

"Romanoff, come in and have a seat. Mr. Stark and I were just talking some logistics, but we're ready for you now," Nick explained, gesturing for the open seat beside Stark.

Now, Natasha wasn't stupid. She knew exactly who Tony Stark was. The CEO of Stark Industries who inherited his father's company once he died. Self-proclaimed "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," or at least he was before meeting Pepper Potts and getting married. He was loud, distinguished, and apparently knew Nick.

Natasha held out her hand to him as he stood to greet her before she took her seat. "Natasha Romanoff, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Stark."

"Likewise, Ms. Romanoff," Tony replied, giving her a cheeky grin as he shook her hand. "Nick tells me wonderful things about you, which is why I think you're perfect for this job."

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Stark." Natasha fought to keep the confusion off of her face, instead turning her gaze to Nick for clarification.

"That's what we're here to talk about Natasha," Nick explained, cutting into the conversation. "Stark Industries is going to be absorbing SHIELD. The merger will be going through in the next several months. We want you to head it up. You'll be working closely with a representative of Stark Industries and together you two will help Tony and I with making sure that the transition from California to New York goes as smooth as possible."

"And don't worry, it comes with a significant pay raise that will stay with you, not only during your time as SHIELD's liaison, but also once you take on your new position as an executive within SI," Tony said, as he leaned back in his chair.

"You're the best one for the job, Romanoff. You know SHIELD like the back of your hand. You've worked as an extension of me for years now. I know that I can trust you to do this job." Nick gave her a meaningful look as she took everything in.

"Yeah, but New York? That's a long way away, I don't know that I have the money to-"

"Another thing SI will be paying for," Tony interrupted. "All higher-level employees and Nick's assistant Ms. Maximoff will be moved out to New York on SI's dime. We'll also be providing assistance with living expenses for the first couple years as you guys get comfortable in the city"

Natasha nodded as she took everything in. It all sounded like a good deal. She'd always considered moving out to the east coast at some time or another, why not now? Higher pay (not that she was making bad money now), moving expenses paid for, housing helped with, all her friends would be moving with her, her position held for her once she completed the merger, she really couldn't think of any reason not to take the job. "And who would I be working with?" She asked after a moment. "You said I would be working with a representative of Stark Industries, so who would that be?"

Tony offered her a smile, "Steve Rogers. He's ex-military. All American good guy. Nearly impossible to not like. Trust me, when I first met him, I tried. So, what do you say, Romanoff, do we have a deal?"

Natasha lifted an eyebrow as she glanced over at Nick, Tony's hand still extended towards her waiting to make a deal. Natasha's lips curled up at the corners and she turned to face Tony, grasping his hand with hers. "We have a deal."

* * *

Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm sorry I've been so MIA. I'm in my LAST semester of college and it is currently kicking my butt! I promise that I haven't forgotten about my other WIP's and I definitely want to continue them and finish them (hopefully a new chapter for "We Need You" is coming soon. I'm currently piecing it out in my head and getting it down on paper).

The good news: There's only 11 more weeks of it being super stressful and then I will have WAY more time to write. (I'll also have a degree, so that's pretty cool). I ALSO actually have somewhat of an outline for how the majority of this story is going to go, which is already way more prepared than my usual "winging it" style of writing that I've been doing up until now.

The not-so-good news: I don't know exactly how often I will be able to update because, again, this is a super busy time for me right now. So, I hope you guys don't give up on/forget about me because I promise that I haven't forgotten about all of you.

Please leave comments and kudos! 3


	2. Chapter 2

"So, they just offered you the job? Just like that?" Clint asked as him, Wanda, Natasha, and Maria sat in one of the local bars that they frequently went to. It had become something of a tradition for the four of them to grab drinks and greasy bar food on Friday nights. It was a good way to wind down from the week and catch up with one another, which wasn't always possible during the week considering how busy they all were.

Natasha nodded her head, taking a sip of the drink in front of her. "Just like that. Stark didn't ask for a resume, my qualifications, anything. He just took Nick's word for it that I was good enough for this job."

"I didn't even _know_ that we were merging with Stark Industries. I can't believe he didn't tell me," Maria said, shaking her head.

"I got the impression that it's supposed to be pretty hush-hush until I meet with the Stark Industries representative and we start working out exactly how this all is going to go down," Natasha replied. They all paused their conversation for a moment as their waitress brought over their food. It wasn't until they'd all murmured their thanks to the waitress and gotten a few bites into their respective meals before Wanda spoke.

"So, what do you know about this guy that you're going to be working on this with? Did Fury or Stark say much about him? Do you even know his name?"

"Um, Steve Rogers. I don't really know that much about him yet. Stark said something about him being ex-military." She paused and laughed, "his exact words were actually 'ex-military. All-American good guy.'" She shrugged as she plucked one of the fried pickles out of the basket from the center of the table.

"Damn, he's going to have a rough time working with you then," Clint teased.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'm sure there's more about him in the file that Stark gave me. I'll have to look it over before I head out there on Monday. I'm also supposed to get together notes to leave for Rumlow since he'll be acting in my position while I'm doing all of this other stuff."

"Rumlow?" They all called in unison, varying degrees of disgust coloring their faces at the mention of his name.

"Unfortunately, he's a junior executive in my department, which means he gets to take over while I'm gone."

Wanda groaned, "I hate working with Rumlow. He makes me so uncomfortable."

Clint threw and arm around her, "if he gives you too much trouble, you let me know. I'd love a reason to put him in his place."

Maria guffawed, tossing her head back as she did. "Now that's something that I would pay to see."

"Don't worry about it Wan, I'm only going out for a couple of days this time. I'm supposed to meet Rogers, get a tour of Stark Industries, we'll make a game plan for how we want to proceed, and I'll be back. Besides, I doubt I'll be itching to spend time out there, especially if this guy is as much of a boy scout as Stark says he is." Natasha put her hands down on the table and pushed herself up, tossing the group a mischievous smile as she did so. "Now, to the important stuff. Next round of drinks is on me. We're celebrating tonight, after all!"

* * *

At 7:30 the next morning, Natasha found herself sitting on one of the bar stools in her kitchen while she nursed a steaming cup of coffee and an awful hangover. She silently cursed Clint for knowing just what buttons to push to get her to convince her to drink way more than she needed to (_Come on Tash, aren't you supposed to be Russian? I thought Russians could hold their alcohol_). After allowing herself a few minutes to sulk about the fact that she was awake, she pulled her laptop over to her so she could get working on the notes Rumlow would need when she left for New York. She'd be damned if she came back to find her department a mess because of his incompetence.

Once she was satisfied with the detail in her instructions, she pushed the laptop aside in favor of grabbing the cream-colored file folder closer to her. She hesitated for a moment, shaking off her slight apprehension about this being some kind of breach of privacy and reassuring herself that the guy had probably seen everything that was put in the folder, just like she had when Stark took a file of her own back for Steve to look over. She flipped open the front cover and immediately dove in to the information.

_Name:_ _Steven (Steve) Grant Rogers. _

_Age: 30. _

_Education: West Point. Major: Business. Minor: Art. Graduated from West Point at the top of his class. _

_Special Forces. Served with the Howling Commandos in the Army. Honorable Discharge at 25. _

Natasha hummed to herself, her eyebrows furrowing as she re-read the information. She had to admit, she was already impressed. While she didn't know much about the military, she did know that getting into West Point was exceptionally difficult and to graduate at the top of his class was formidable to say the least. She was curious about his honorable discharge, but she figured that since the information wasn't in the file, it wasn't something he wanted to share, at least not immediately. She took another sip of her coffee before diving back in.

She read that he was fluent in English, Gaelic, French, and Spanish. Again, she found herself impressed, if not a little proud that she's fluent in more languages than him. There were some more basics in there about him. Things like when he started at Stark Industries, his promotion dates, accolades he's collected within the company (as well as some from outside the company). She flipped over the last page to find a small picture of what she assumed was Steve with Tony. She picked the picture up to examine it further.

Steve was positively handsome. He had these gorgeous blue eyes that looked like they probably could pierce through her soul. On top of that, he had a crooked smile that had Natasha smiling to herself over. That wasn't even taking into account the promising outlines of muscle thinly veiled by the tux that he was wearing. Natasha would bet her (considerable) salary that while that tux was doing _wonders_ for him, he'd look just as good, if not better, in just a t-shirt and jeans. She mentally scolded herself for ogling him, while simultaneously wondering if the picture that was chosen for her file did her enough justice.

Placing the picture safely back in the folder, she grabbed the final piece of paper which had been carefully folded in half. Natasha looked it over, noting that the paper was different from the others within the folder. She unfolded it, noting that the page was handwritten, the careful press of pen leaving indentions in the paper. This piece seemed to have been torn out of a notebook of some kind, almost as if it had been added to the folder as an afterthought.

"_Ms. Romanoff, I am thrilled to hear that you and I will be working together through this merger process. Both Mr. Fury and Mr. Stark talk so highly of you and your skills, so I'm pleased to hear that you'll be joining our team. Have a safe trip out here. If you have any questions or anything before Monday, my number is below. See you soon! -SGR_"

Natasha found herself smiling at the note. She had to admit that it was a really nice gesture. She sighed, setting the note down in front of her. Stark was right, she hadn't even met the guy yet, and she already found herself intrigued and liking him. Grabbing her phone from its place beside her, she unlocked it, immediately going to her messages and inputting his number. She paused for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to decide what she should say to him. Eventually, she decided that she should just go with something simple.

_**Hi Mr. Rogers, this is Natasha Romanoff. I just wanted to say thank you for the note that you left in your file. I'm excited to join your team and have heard good things about you, too!**_

After a slight hesitation, she pressed send. She smiled to herself, proud of the amount of work she'd already gotten done. She looked back down at her phone, seeing that it was only 8:15 in the morning. Immediately the smile fell from her face. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_, she thought. She unlocked her phone again and quickly typed out a message.

_**I am so, so, so sorry for messaging you so early. Different time zones and everything. I didn't even realize it'd only be like 5 a.m. there. I'm so sorry if I woke you.**_

She pressed send again feeling better for a moment before groaning and dropping her head on the countertop. _Good going Romanoff, if you didn't wake him the first time, you probably woke him this time. Stupid. _She was lightly banging her head against the cool marble of her countertop when her phone dinged.

_**You didn't, don't worry (: I'm usually up by this time.**_

Natasha breathed out a sigh of relief, knowing that she didn't wake him, but surprised to hear that he's usually up at such an ungodly hour. She was just about to type out her response when she got another message.

_**Also, it's Steve. Hearing Mr. Rogers reminds me of old men in sweaters and cardigans.**_

Natasha laughed out loud, a bright smile on her face as she hunched over her phone slightly and responded.

_**Oh, so you're not an old guy in a sweater? That's what you look like in this picture Tony sent. And it's Natasha.**_

She only had to wait a few moments before his response came in.

_**He didn't.**_

Another second later, her phone buzzed again.

_**Please tell me he didn't.**_

Another second, another message.

_**Natasha, please tell me you're joking.**_

Natasha grinned, she fingers swiftly moving over the keypad.

_**I'm joking (: But something tells me it wouldn't be the first time he did that?**_

Natasha got up and put her coffee cup in the sink. She had just sat back down when the next message came in.

_**It's an ongoing problem. You SURE you want to take this job? ;P**_

Grabbing her phone, Natasha walked into her room to ready herself for a bath and grabbing some ibuprofen. She sent a message off to Clint, telling him that she would meet him at their usual spot later in the day for dinner, before responding to Steve.

_**Oh, I'm sure I can suffer through it. (;**_

* * *

The rest of the day carried on much like that, Steve and Natasha texting each other back and forth, getting to know each other a little better. She now knew things about him that weren't in his file. Like that he was born and raised in Brooklyn. His favorite food is his Mom's stew, though he also would never turn down burgers or steak. She also found him to be quite funny, making her laugh or smile on more than one occasion, something that she found surprising.

The next morning, Natasha woke up at 7:45, knowing that she had a lot to do that day to get ready to head to New York. She rolled over in her bed and plucked her phone off of her night stand to see that she already had a text from Steve.

_**Good morning! Got everything in order for your trip tomorrow?**_

Natasha couldn't help the small smile that came to her face. That was another thing she'd already noticed about Steve, he was unfailingly sweet and kind. She did frown a little when she saw that the message had come in around 7. Didn't the guy ever sleep?

_**Well good morning to you too! I think so, I think all that's left is for me to pack and double check the flight details that Stark sent me. I have to ask though, what on earth are you doing up at 4 a.m.?**_

She laid in bed for a while, scrolling on her phone before deciding that she should stop wasting time and get started with her day. Crawling out of bed, she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and run a brush through her hair. After she was satisfied with that, she grabbed the dirty laundry that was scattered throughout her room and tossed it into her clothes basket. Setting it on her hip, she plucked her phone off of its place on her nightstand and headed out into the living room. She set the clothes basket down on the counter in the kitchen to get some coffee started. After she had tossed in the laundry and poured herself a cup of coffee, she sat herself on one of the stools in her kitchen. She checked her phone a few times, finding that Steve hadn't messaged her back yet, and moved on with her other tasks. Natasha set about making herself a checklist of the things she would need to pack to take with her, but found herself continuously glancing at her phone, hoping that it would light up with a message from Steve. At that realization, she chided herself. _He's your co-worker, Romanoff. Don't even go there. You don't even know this man_.

Forty-five minutes later, the washer sounded, and Natasha quickly got up to turn it over and put in a new load. When she came back into the kitchen, her eyes immediately went to her phone, she sighed inwardly before reaching out and picking it up. To her surprise, there was a notification of two new messages from Steve. Willing herself not to smile, she opened them.

_**Morning person. Always have been. Plus, it's a nice time to get in a run. **_

_**I'm pretty sure you're taking the Stark Industries jet. Do you know who's picking you up from the airport?**_

Natasha furrowed her brows and pulled her computer over to her. She hurriedly searched through her mailbox for the email from Tony with her flight information on it. Sure enough, Tony said she would be flying out on his personal jet and that a car would pick her up at the airport to take her immediately to SI. He'd have one of his assistants drop her things off at the hotel she'd be staying at nearby.

_**Just checked the email, you're right. The jet leaves at 8:30 my time and I should be landing in NY around 8:30 your time. He's sending a car to pick me up.**_

She paused for a moment before smiling and sending another message.

_**Morning people are unnatural, you know that? Morning people that go for runs? Even more so. I bet you don't even drink coffee.**_

Moments later, she had another message from him.

_**Hmm. What would you say to grabbing breakfast at this little diner close to Stark Industries?**_

Her phone buzzed again as she read the message.

_**With me. I should've clarified that. **_

_**Grabbing breakfast, with me. **_

_**I could just come with the car to pick you up at the airport and we could grab a bite before heading to SI. **_

_**If you wanted. **_

_**If you don't that's fine, too. **_

_**Please don't feel pressured to.**_

The messages had come in one after another. Natasha giggled to herself, she didn't even have to see him to know that he was probably fairly flustered.

_**Hmmmmm, I don't know….. with you? I suppose I could suffer through that, as long as this place has some good waffles ;P**_

There was a split second where Natasha was worried that he might not understand that she was joking, but those fears were squelched when she read his reply.

_**Oh, Stan's has the absolute best! I promise they'll be more than enough to make up for dealing with me :P **_

_**And for the record, no. I'm not a coffee person, never liked the taste.**_

Natasha rolled her eyes, her lips turning up.

_**Well, if these waffles are as good as you say they are, I may be inclined to overlook the fact that you aren't human.**_

The conversation went on like that throughout the day. No matter how many times Natasha tried to stop herself from checking her phone, smiling at his stupid jokes, and wanting to know more about him, she couldn't. _He's just being nice because he's your co-worker,_ she kept reminding herself. Despite repeating that as a mantra in her head, she struggled to tamp down the butterflies that had found their way into the pit of her stomach. They hadn't even met, and she was already in trouble. That night, as she fell asleep, even she couldn't deny that the smile on her face and the excitement in her veins was all because of Steve Rogers.

* * *

Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm still super busy, but I was in need of some time to decompress and found myself using this story to do that. Hopefully I will have more chapters for all of my works in progress soon!

Please favorite, follow, and review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters. But boooooy do I wish I did.

* * *

Late that night, Natasha found herself getting picked up at her doorstep by a car ready to take her to the airport. She was just going to take a cab, but she had to admit, working for Tony Stark already seemed to have its perks. The ride to the airport was pretty quick, and before long, the car was pulling into the private section of the airport and right up next to a jet with "STARK INDUSTRIES" emblazoned on the side. Natasha got out of the car and was ushered toward the plane by the driver who shooed her away after she tried to grab her own bags.

Once she had made her way up the stairs to enter the plane, she was greeted by a flight attendant who flashed her a bright smile and a cheerful "welcome aboard, Ms. Romanoff." Natasha easily returned the smile and allowed for the flight attendant to guide her further into the plane to one of the plush leather seats. The seat nearly enveloped her as she sat herself into it, exhaustion quickly running over her. She had taken a nap later in the evening after she was sure that everything was packed, but honestly, all she really wanted to do over the next five and a half hours was sleep.

She looked throughout the cabin as she sat and waited for take-off. All the seats within the plane were leather. Through the archway a little way back from her, she could see more seating, a fully stocked bar with rich mahogany wood surrounding it, as well as a curtain leading to what she could only assume lead to another section. She couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped her, the plane was excessive, but she could also see herself getting used to this kind of luxury. The flight attendant came back moments later with pillows and blankets in her arms that Natasha hadn't even asked for yet. She had to say, if Tony's goal was to impress her, he had certainly done so. She quietly thanked the attendant and pulled out her phone to scroll through it until she fell asleep.

When she opened up her phone, she pursed her lips in an attempt to keep the smile off of her face as she saw a notification with Steve's name on her screen with "new message" underneath it. She quickly opened it up, the smile she was fighting to keep off of her face, making its way there as she saw his message.

_**Have a safe flight! I'll see you when you land. **_

She rolled her eyes when she saw that it had only come in a few minutes earlier. It was like the guy had something against sleeping like a normal person.

_**See you soon! Enjoy your run. Make sure you run one for me too, Lord knows I'm not going to do it myself. :P**_

She knew that it wasn't really something that she had to do anymore, but she was going to be asleep anyway, there wasn't any reason for her to keep it on. Just after she had put her phone away, the captain came over the speaker and telling her that they were getting ready to take off. Natasha relaxed back into her seat, her head falling against the pillow the whir of the engines starting up at the plane began to taxi down the runway. She watched the lights along the runway pass by through the window to her right, her mind drifting to Steve as the plane began its ascent. She was excited to meet him. They already seemed to get along pretty well if their constant texting over the last couple of days was any indication. Granted, some of that had been about work stuff, but they also talked about their personal lives, joked back and forth, and even sent each other a couple memes here and there. She liked talking to him. There was this _feeling_ though. This feeling that as much as she tried, she couldn't push away. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that it was butterflies. Butterflies that had infuriatingly found their way into the pit of her stomach. Butterflies that managed to also make her heart flutter and her face heat up whenever she saw a message from him on her phone. It didn't make sense to her. She wasn't really sure how it happened. Even her friendship with Clint hadn't formed this quickly.

She let the heaviness of her eyelids overtake her, knowing that she would see him in a few hours, and if she was being honest with herself, she couldn't wait.

* * *

Natasha awoke to a hand placed lightly on her shoulder, shaking her gently.

"Sorry to bother you Ms. Romanoff, but we're about 30 minutes from landing. I didn't know if you would like to freshen up or anything before we got there." Natasha thanked her, doing her best to shake off the haze of sleep that was still clouding her mind. The attendant offered her a small smile and brought Natasha her carry on and the outfit that she had chosen to wear for the day before showing her where the small bathroom was. Again, Natasha thanked her before stepping into the bathroom area, which was much larger than any bathroom she had ever seen on a plane, but was still a bit cramped for trying to change.

She made quick work of getting out of her yoga pants and large t-shirt before slipping on the light gray fitted dress with an asymmetrical neckline that she had picked out for the day. Running her hands along the places that the dress hugged her curves, she smoothed out the places that it had decided to bunch up and shimmied it further down her body until it sat at the appropriate length. She plucked the thin belt off of the same hanger and quickly fastened it around her waist. Looking in the mirror, she appraised her outfit, giving herself a small nod of satisfaction before getting to work on her hair and makeup.

She decided to tackle her makeup first, a light coverage foundation went on first before she got set swiping on eyeliner and mascara. She looked through the contents of her makeup bag for a moment before deciding to go with a bright red lipstick that matched the color of her hair nearly perfectly. Once she was satisfied with all of that, she moved on to her hair. Currently, it was pulled into a loose braid that she had done after getting out of the shower. She pulled the ponytail loose and worked her fingers through the braid and the curls before it settled. Humming to herself, she looked in the mirror. Typically, she would pull her hair into some sort of up-do before, generally preferring to keep it out of her face during the day. As she looked at her reflection, however, she decided that her hair looked good today and she generally felt more confident when her hair was down so she would keep it that way. She tried her best to ignore the voice in the back of her head that said she was doing it because she was finally going to meet Steve and that she also felt sexier when she wore her hair down, but a small part of her knew that it was true.

She exited the bathroom and strolled back over to her seat, grabbing the pair of black pumps that she had set aside and sliding them on her feet. She sighed, letting her head fall back against the seat as she fastened the seatbelt around her waist.

"Ms. Romanoff, we'll be landing in 10 minutes, is there anything else that I can get you?" The attendant asked.

"No, I'm good, thank you," Natasha responded, giving the other woman a small smile before closing her eyes and leaning her head back once more. She reached into her bag and pulled out the file that Tony had given her at the end of last week. She opened up the file to the back, grabbing the small photo of both Steve and Tony. She inwardly sighed at herself, that feeling that she was experiencing earlier coming back to the pit of her stomach. Slipping the photo back into the file, she abruptly shut it and slid it back into her bag, while scolding herself over the stupid emotions raging through her body. She had never even met the guy, let alone had a conversation with him outside of text. For all she knew, he could have terribly bad breath, spit when he talks, chew with his mouth open, or any of the other countless bad habits or personal hygiene issues she had encountered through the years. On top of that, he was her coworker, they were going to be working together intimately for however long it was going to take to get this merger completed and everything settled. She couldn't possibly jeopardize that working relationship just because she thought that he was extremely attractive and made her laugh. She admonished herself once more (because _that_ was working so well) just as the wheels of the plane hit the runway. She could feel her pulse picking up as the plane taxied down the runway and slowly came to a stop. Natasha waited a few minutes before the flight attendant came around the corner to inform her that everything had been set up and she could exit the plane. Drawing in a deep breath, she unbuckled her seatbelt and slipped into her professional persona.

* * *

Steve bounced his foot impatiently as he sat in the back of the car. Happy had picked him up at his apartment a few minutes ago and they were on their way to the airport to get Natasha now. He drew in a deep breath as he pulled out his phone, hoping that it would somehow distract him on the way there. After fiddling with it for a few minutes and reading through a few emails that he had gotten, he put it away. Hitting the button to lower the divider down, Happy looked back at Steve in the reflection of the rearview mirror.

"Hey Hap, how much longer until we get to the airport?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed together and his jaw set.

"Still got about 15 minutes. Traffic is a bit denser than I thought that it was going to be," Happy replied, an apologetic smile on his face. "We'll still make it plenty on time though." Steve nodded his head, leaning back in his seat. Happy glanced up in the rearview mirror, noticing the tension in Steve's shoulders and the way that his jaw was set. "You nervous about meeting her?"

Steve's head snapped up, his eyes instantly meeting Happy's in the mirror. "What?"

"I mean it's okay if you are. I always get nervous about working with new people, but from what I've heard about her, she'll fit in just fine here."

Steve cleared his throat and slightly shook his shoulders, attempting to rid the tension from his body. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure she'll be great. Let me know when we get there, Hap." He reached forward and hit the button to slide the divider back up, nearly cutting off Happy's response as it shut once more. Running his hand through his hair, he let out a sigh and dropped his head back against the seat. He watched out the window for a while, attempting to calm his nerves.

He was exhausted. He'd woken up at 3 a.m. knowing that her flight would be leaving soon, and he wanted to make sure that he messaged her before her plane left. After that, he found himself too nervous to go back to sleep, his mind racing at the prospect of finally meeting her. Bucky had been teasing him all weekend and on their morning run about how attached he was to his phone. _Jesus pal, why don't you ever text me like that?_ he teased, receiving a playful fist to the arm in response. _I'm just saying, I don't think I've ever seen you quite so bound to a piece of technology outside of work before._ Steve had just rolled his eyes and tucked his phone in his pocket, actively ignoring the voice in the back of his head telling him that Bucky was right.

Prior to Natasha reaching out to him, he'd always kept his phone on silent, never caring whether or not he replied to a text message right away. Now, however, his phone was constantly on loud and practically attached to his hand in order to make sure that he didn't miss a message from her. Even when he wasn't talking about her, it still felt like she was occupying his every thought. He knew it was crazy to feel like he already knew her when he really knew nothing about her, but he was already completely captivated by her.

After what felt like an eternity, Happy rolled down the divider to tell Steve that they were arriving at the airport. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he resolved to make sure that he remained as professional as possible. The truth was, he really _didn't_ know this woman despite feeling like he did. Steve instantly felt his heart-rate spike as he nodded in response. He rubbed his palms against the knees of his pants, furiously trying to rid them of the sweat that had suddenly accumulated there. As the car pulled to a stop on one of the private runways next to the Stark Industries jet, Happy parked the car and hopped out of the driver's seat to open the door for Steve. Steve thanked him as he stood, buttoning his suit jacket, pulling the arms down, and checking his cuffs before rolling his shoulders back and strolling over to the end of the staircase that descended from the plane.

Moments later, the door to the plane opened. The flight attendant turned and said something to someone else inside the plane. Within seconds, Natasha appeared in the doorway. Her flame-red hair caught the light, reflecting so brightly that he had the urge to hold his hand up to shield his eyes. He felt the wind rush out of his body as her eyes scanned out over the airport before looking down and meeting his. She quirked her lips up in a small smirk as she descended the stairs towards him.

"Steve Rogers," she chimed. She extended her hand out to him as she stopped on the last step in front of him, making her slightly taller than him. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Natasha Romanoff," he replied, a blindingly bright smile finding its way to his face. "Nice to finally meet you, too."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hi guys!

Here's a few updates:

1) I am finish up my last week of student teaching this week! YAY! Annnnnd, I graduate the following week! Which means, I should have plenty of time coming up to write (hopefully, fingers crossed).

2) I've received messages/comments both on here and on (where I also post these stories) worried that I wouldn't finish "We Need You" due to some events that take place in Endgame (please avoid spoilers for those who haven't have the opportunity to see it). I wanted to let you all know that I definitely WILL be finishing that story, and will, most likely, be straying from cannon for the rest of the fic. We shall see though, I'm still piecing it out in my mind.

3) I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who has been reading my fics, whether you're someone who reads them all, or something who has just found one or two that you've enjoyed. From the very bottom of my heart, thank you so much. Your favorites, follows, and reviews, kind words, and helpful suggestions never fail to make me smile!

As always, please favorite, follow, and review! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

A wild update appears!

* * *

Nearly twenty minutes after picking Natasha up at the airport, Happy was dropping them off at Stan's with an order to send him a text when they were ready to be picked up.

"Alright, Rogers," Natasha said, lifting one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows at him. "I was promised the best waffles I have ever eaten. Though, I'll have you know, I'm something of a waffle connoisseur, so…" She shrugged her shoulders and smirked as she walked through the door Steve held open for her. Immediately her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the restaurant. Stepping inside of the restaurant was like stepping into a time machine; 40's memorabilia decorated every surface within sight. The floors were tiled in a checkerboard pattern, brightly colored booths were adorned with leather in retro patterns. A large bar was on one side of the restaurant with stools perched on metal bases set in front of it. Natasha was pulled out of her daze by a woman greeting them.

"Hey Steve," the woman greeted cheerily. "Looks like your usual booth is open, go ahead and take a seat. I'll be right over to get your drinks!"

Steve offered her a bright smile, "thanks, May." He then turned to Natasha and pointed to the booth near the back of the restaurant. "It's that one right there."

Natasha nodded to him and headed towards it after he held his arm out for her to pass. She sat down on one side of the booth, accepting the menu that he handed her with a simple "thank you."

Steve opened up his menu, looking over the top of it at Natasha. "Alright 'waffle connoisseur', the waffles are on the second page on the left side." Natasha immediately flipped to the page, humming as she looked at the selection. "A couple of years ago, we had a meeting with a company in Brussels for SI. While I have to admit that those waffles were _pretty_ good, I have to say, I was just thinking about Stan's waffles the whole time."

"Wow, better than Belgian waffles?" She narrowed her eyes at him, the ghost of a smile dancing on her lips as a laugh escaped her. "Now I'm really intrigued."

Steve smiled and looked back down at his menu, perusing it for a minute before deciding to go ahead and order his usual meal. He peered over his menu, taking in the way that Natasha's eyebrows were knitted together, her lower lip slightly pulled up between her teeth as she decided what to order.

Steve was stunned. From the moment that Natasha had come down that staircase, to the time that it took to get to Stan's and get seated, their conversation hadn't lulled. It didn't feel awkward; didn't make him self-conscious as it normally would. He was completely content, the conversation flowing effortlessly between the two of them. It wasn't just small talk or an exchange of pleasantries, either. They immediately fell into a normal conversation between the two of them, which in itself was an odd feeling considering they had only started talking 48 hours earlier.

Not only that, but there were things that he was starting to notice about her that he never could've just through their messages; things that made his heart skip a beat or his stomach flip over itself. Like the way that she smirks before teasing him, or the way that her hair cascades down her back as she laughs at something ridiculous that he said. And her laugh was another ethereal experience on its own. He could listen to her laugh all day and never get tired of the sound. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he was falling a little bit in love with the woman sitting across the table from him. He cleared his throat, fixing his gaze on the art next to their booth, quickly working to push those thoughts aside.

"Alright, I can't decide," Natasha sighed after a moment. "Strawberry or blueberry?"

"Well," Steve said leaning back and offered her a smile, "my personal favorite is the strawberry, though Bucky swears by the blueberry."

Natasha hummed narrowing her eyes at the menu for a second longer before setting it down. "Strawberry waffles it is!"

Steve was about to respond to her when May walked up. "You two ready to order?" She pulled her notepad out of her apron as she stopped at the table.

Steve looked at Natasha who smiled and nodded. "I'll have the strawberry waffles with a fruit cup and a cup of coffee, please."

May nodded as she wrote down the order. "You want your usual Steve?"

"Yes, please," he replied, handing her his menu. "Thanks May."

She smiled at him as she slipped her notepad back inside her apron. "Not a problem, Steve."

When Steve turned his attention back to Natasha, she was looking throughout the restaurant seemingly entranced by the memorabilia. "I have to say, I don't think I've ever been in a diner quite like this before," she said her eyes finding his.

"Is that a good thing?" He asked, his eyebrows lifted slightly.

Natasha quirked up the corner of her lips, "yeah, it's a good thing. This might just have to be my new hangout when I officially move here."

Steve cleared his throat, his heart racing ever so slightly at her approval of the place. "Uh, my Ma used to bring Bucky and I here every weekend when we were younger. She worked as a nurse at the hospital just around the corner, so she'd get off of her shift and bring us here to grab breakfast." He gestured over to where May was taking the order of a customer behind the counter. "May is Stan's niece and has worked here since I was little. When he passed away several years ago, she took it over to keep it going. Her and my Ma are really close. After I got out of elementary school, my Ma started working later in the evening, so Buck and I would come here after school and do homework and hangout until she got off work."

May walked up to the table with their drinks, setting them down in front of them. "They were only a bit of a handful," she said, giving Natasha a wink.

"Oh, come on, May. We weren't that bad," Steve chuckled, leaning into her slightly.

May rolled her eyes, "I suppose you guys made up for it with all of the extra help you gave us around here." She patted Steve on the shoulder, "your food should be out soon."

Steve turned his gaze back to Natasha who was smiling at him. Steve huffed out a laugh, "what?"

"I just think it's nice," she replied with a shrug. "This place means a lot to you."

The corner of Steve's mouth twitched up, "it does." He held her gaze for a moment before clearing his throat and shifting to place his forearms on the table. "So, after breakfast, we'll head to Stark Tower. We'll meet with Tony and Pepper to discuss the plan. After that we'll have some time to work up an outline of our own. At 1, we'll meet with the department heads to present what we've talked about. After that, we'll have time to tour the building and then we can go back and work some more before our dinner meeting at 5:30."

Natasha nodded as she listened to the rundown of their schedule. "I've got some transitional ideas outlined, so I'll send them your way when we get to the tower."

"Great! I've laid out a few things as well."

Natasha tilted her head slightly, her eyebrows raised in surprise, "someone as prepared as I am. I'm impressed."

Steve chuckled and lifted an eyebrow at her challengingly, "you haven't seen anything yet, Romanoff."

Natasha felt her chest squeeze slightly and her stomach flip. She felt a blush begin to rise to her cheeks but was saved by May swooping in with their food. Both Natasha and Steve thanked her before digging into their food. Cutting a small piece of her waffle away, Natasha took a bite, instantly humming in delight at the taste.

"Good?" Steve asked, breaking into a grin.

Natasha eagerly cut off another piece, "you were right, better than Belgian Waffles."

The pair ate in silence for a minute when Steve's phone went off. "We're going to have to eat quick, Pepper's conference call got moved up, so she's got to meet earlier. Happy's on his way back to get us now." He wiped his mouth before looking up at her. Natasha nodded in response and ate quicker. Steve took a sip of his drink before waving May over.

"We're going to have to jet," he explained, handing her his card. May nodded, taking it from him and walking off.

_Gentleman,_ Natasha thought to herself, an eyebrow raised as she stared at him.

Steve took a large bite of his food before looking up and catching her gaze. He swallowed hard, "what?"

"I can pay for my own food, you know," Natasha said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

Steve shrugged, a boyish smile finding its way to his face. "I have no doubt about that but considering I'm the one who invited you to breakfast, this one's on me."

Natasha seemed to contemplate that for a moment before countering back, "well then, next meal's on me, since I'm the one doing the inviting."

He fought to keep the blush off of his face, actively trying to ignore the way his stomach flipped over itself at her invitation. "You got it, Romanoff."

* * *

Author's Note: Hey guys!

I'm SO sorry for the wait for this chapter. I have to say that I definitely didn't plan on it taking this long to get this out, but unfortunately, things happen. I've just been really uninspired lately and struggling with writer's block. Hopefully, however, this chapter doesn't reflect any of those struggles and I'll get back to a more regular writing schedule soon.

A couple of quick updates:

1) I've gotten some messages of people concerned that I'm not going to finish writing "We Need You" with the events that happened in "Endgame." I WILL be finishing it, right now I'm just deciding how closely I am going to stick to canon, and if I do, what I want to keep or get rid of. I honestly think that I need to see Endgame again to figure it out since the first time I saw it, I was on a pure adrenaline high and my emotions were all over the place. Hahah!

2) I am currently on summer break before I begin my first year teaching since I have graduated! Whoooo! That being said, once my first year of teaching starts, I probably won't have as much free time to write. So hopefully this writer's block goes away and I can finish more of this stuff in the meantime.

3) I'm on Tumblr under the same name, SO if you would like to send any prompts my way or any requests, I would love that! Those would be great for helping me get some writing done and push through this block.

Thank you all for your support with this story and my life in general. From the bottom of my heart, I adore you all!

As always, please favorite, follow, and comment! 3


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